


An Angel's Voice

by Demonic_Angel_511



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Almost Kiss, Angels are Dicks (Supernatural), Castiel Has Self-Esteem Issues (Supernatural), Castiel Needs a Hug (Supernatural), Castiel curses in Enochian, Castiel is a Good Singer, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dean Winchester is Protective of Castiel, Gabriel is a good brother, M/M, Sam Winchester Has Bad Timing, Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sassy Castiel (Supernatural), Sharing a Bed, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-02-23 13:31:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23945647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demonic_Angel_511/pseuds/Demonic_Angel_511
Summary: Castiel sings and Dean overhears him. An innocent question prompts a discussion on Castiel's past.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 13
Kudos: 111





	An Angel's Voice

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.**

\--------

Dean was exhausted. 

And not exhausted as in, 'I've-done-some-strenuous-activity-and-I-kinda-need-to-sleep" but exhausted as in 'I've-been-awake-for-96-hours-non-stop-and-I-am-dead-on-my-feet.'

The brothers had been given the hunt that they had only just finished four days ago by Ellen via phone call. A hunter had come across it but was already halfway through a hunt of their own, so they'd given her the details and she'd passed them along - a few people killed in mysterious ways inside locked buildings, strange corpses and witnesses who were "obviously" crazy. Pretty standard for their line of work.

They'd driven up to the town, interviewed the witnesses, looked over the dead bodies, checked out the crime scene - business as usual - and that's where things became strange.

At first, they'd thought it was a witch. Hex bags were found near all the crime scenes, and that would explain the locked doors and strange circumstances of the deaths. As far as they thought, it was a cut and dry situation.

Until they found the shapeshifter skin. And the missing hearts of the victims.

It only got more complicated from there. The case was a winding road of monsters apparently working together, and old legends that tied buildings and places and people together in a massive spider web of deaths and disappearances.

It took almost two days of the brothers and Bobby working together to find out what they were up against, and another two days to track down them down and kill them all.

The two boys who stumbled into the motel, injured and groaning, were running on adrenaline, caffeine and quite a large helping of stubbornness.

Sam muttered something that could have been "food" or could have been "shoe" and disappeared down the corridor.

Dean dragged his feet in the other direction, towards their room, the go-bag over his shoulder seeming to get heavier with every step.

He was almost to his door when he heard a sound. It was quiet, soft, so soft that at first he thought he was hallucinating. Nevertheless, it made him stop for a second, frowning.

The sound didn't pause.

Cautiously, he continued forward, closer to their door, and it got louder. He moved slowly, keeping his breathing quiet and even, and eventually, it formed words.

_"Wise men say_

_Only fools rush in,_

_But I can't help falling in love with you."_

Dean slowly moved towards the door, straining his ears, everything in him drawn towards the voice. Some part of his brain was screaming at him to draw a weapon - that this couldn't possibly be a good thing, but something else, deep down, calmed. This was a friend. It said. This was safe.

_"Shall I stay_

_Would it be a sin,_

_If I can't help falling in love with you._

_Shall I stay_

_Would it be a sin,_

_If I can't help falling in love with you."_

The melody pulled at him, weaving around him and lulling him into some sort of trance. The pain from his injuries faded away to the back of his mind. There was a sort of musical undertone to the voice, almost like a flute, but surely that wasn't possible?

_"Like a river flows_

_Surely to the sea_

_Darling so it goes_

_Some things are meant to be"_

Slowly, not daring to make a noise unless the singer heard him, Dean pushed the door to their room open. It swung inwards, the carpet luckily muffling the noise, and he slipped inside, placing the bag down silently.

His footsteps gentle, he made his way towards where he could hear the voice coming from. Anticipation building in his chest, as well as a healthy dose of wariness (how did they get into the room?) Dean rounded the corner just as the song was finishing.

_"Take my hand_

_Take my whole life too,_

_For I can't help falling in love with you."_

The singer held the last note for a few seconds, before silence fell again.

Dean stood there for a few seconds, his brain not comprehending what his eyes were seeing.

"Cas?"

The Angel swung around, panic and slight fear in his eyes as they landed on Dean's incredulous face.

"D-Dean." The angel stuttered out, backing away slightly. "I-I di-didn't sense you coming."

The angel looked to be on the verge of disappearing, his flight or fight instincts seeming to have kicked into overdrive.

Dean shook himself out of his confusion at the scared look on the angel's face.

"No. No, it's okay Cas, we just weren't expecting you." He held his hands out in a placating gesture. He slowly moved towards the angel, unknowingly slipping into the role he took when trying to calm victims of monsters. He sank down to sit on one of the beds and patted the cover next to him. "Sit down." He clarified when the Angel looked at him, confused. 

Castiel warily made his way towards Dean and sat down next to him. He no longer seemed to be on the verge of fleeing, but Dean could see that he wasn't calm.

Dean knew that questioning him probably wouldn't help matters, but the curiosity was eating at him, so he opened his mouth and took the plunge.

"I didn't know you could sing?"

Sure enough, Castiel stiffened again. His eyes darted away from Dean's, searching the air.

Almost instinctively, Dean covered his hand with his own. Logically, he knew it wouldn't stop him flying away if he wanted to, but it felt nice, so he didn't remove his hand once his brain registered that fact.

At the contact, Castiel's eyes moved back to his face for a moment, before he let out a breath, his body slumping.

"I don't tend to nowadays." He muttered under his breath. "I used to do it quite often, it helped when I was stuck on tedious jobs like archiving." His nose wrinkled slightly. "Archiving is the worst."

Dean sat in silence for a bit, and eventually Castiel continued.

"My brothers and sisters would always complain or make fun of me when I did it. They'd tell me they couldn't concentrate because of the noise or that if I liked it so much I should go join the choir and how that might be an upgrade since I couldn't fight anyway, or that I should shut up because I was better not seen and not heard." The angel took a shaky breath. "At first I just brushed them off. I liked singing, so why should I stop? But it just continued and continued and more and more angels joined in. Eventually…I just…stopped. Realized that they must be right. I put more focus into my battle training, kept to myself, buried myself in jobs and training. At one point I stopped speaking altogether. Went mute."

At this, he stopped and took a deep breath. Dean gently squeezed his hand where his still rested on top of it, shoving down the instinct inside him that told him to go and punch every angel who even _looked_ at Castiel wrong.

"There were people in my garrison who didn't even know who I was. Once, I remember, we were training, and Gabriel popped over to see me. I was near the back, far away from everyone, but I heard him ask some of the others where I was. 'Hey, you know where I can find Castiel?'. They looked at him blankly. Asked 'who?'. I'd been training with these people for...well, I don't know how long exactly since time didn't exist then, but a long time, and they didn't even know who I was."

The angel smiled wryly, one hand tapping lightly on his knee. “I almost wish it had stayed like that. Afterwards, it all started up again. They’d bully me, team up and pin anything bad that happened on me. If something went wrong, it was always my fault. They’d mock me, insult me, pick on me. I was their plaything, their punching bag.” He sighed softly, his hand pausing in its tapping to absently raise up and rub lightly at his upper arm. “Gabriel always told me that they were just jealous, and to ignore them. That they didn’t like me because I was different, because I was better.” 

Dean wanted to interrupt him, to back up Gabriel’s words, to hold Cas tightly and take all the pain from his face. Deep down, his opinion of Gabriel jumped up a notch. Obviously he wasn't a complete douchebag.

“I guess I took the wrong message from that. Instead of being proud of who I was and standing up to the others I tried to fit in. I looked at what they did and I tried to copy them. It still didn’t work though, and I gave up. Became numb to it, became used to it. I think some part of me started believing that there was something wrong with me, that I deserved to be treated like that. That everyone else was right and I was wrong.”

Dean couldn't help his reaction. A growl came from deep in his throat and his hand tightened around Castiel’s almost to the point of pain. The angel glanced up, startled, but gave him a soft smile.

“I didn’t start speaking again until I was assigned to a flight. I had to speak then, I didn't have a choice. It was required, in order to accept and give orders and work with the others in your flight. But I didn't speak outside of that. I stayed a loner, I stayed on my own. I didn’t approach anyone, and eventually, I developed a reputation for it. I was the friendless mute who thought they were better than everyone else. And because of that I isolated myself more. It was a cycle, a vicious one, and when the earth was created, I fled to it. And guess what I found down there.”

For the first time during his story, Castiel met Dean’s eyes. “Music. Songs. Humans who found ways to weave such ordinary sounds into so many beautiful melodies.” Castiel’s eyes took on a far-away look, as though he was remembering them. “It reawoke my love for singing, but these songs were so much better than those in Heaven. I was scared to sing them, because I knew if I tried to, I’d ruin them. So I settled for listening. I listened and committed them all to memory, so I could play them over and over again in my head. I tried to figure out why they were so much better than Heaven’s songs, but I could never figure it out until recently.”

“Why Cas?” Dean asked quietly after a few moments of silence. “Why are they better?”

Castiel smiled at him. A proper, joyful smile. Some part of Dean marveled at the beauty of that smile.

“When humans sing, they put their heart and soul into the music.” The angel whispered, his eyes focused on Dean. “They show their true emotions, and that makes their music special and beautiful. In Heaven, they just repeat what they’re told to, there's no feeling to it. That’s why human music is so much more than Heaven’s. That’s why it's so beautiful.” The angel smiled again. “And, I wanted to try that. I can’t express emotion very well, I don’t understand it, but...music I can do. So I wanted to see if I could show emotion through singing instead, to see if I could get even a fraction of the beauty of that music I heard.”

“You did Cas.” Dean replied gently, squeezing his friend’s hand again. Castiel’s eyes moved to his again. Deep inside them, the hunter could see something vulnerable. There was something in there that was cracked, broken, and Dean felt an overwhelming urge to do anything to fix that, to take away the pain. “Honestly, I think that was some of the most beautiful singing I’ve ever heard.” Dean thought back to the moment he opened the door and awe swept through him again. “It was...I don’t know how to describe it, it was just awesome.”

Castiel looked away, but Dean could see the redness creeping up his cheeks. It was adorable, he thought, hiding a smile.

A thought came to him, brief and fleeting, but it stuck, and Dean swallowed before voicing it.

“Cas?” The angel glanced over at him in questioning. “You said you’d memorized the music you heard when you came down?” He nodded, frowning. “Will you sing something for me?”

Castiel blinked. “You...You _want_ me to sing?” He asked, as though he’d never heard anything like it before. 

Dean felt a wave of red-hot rage towards the angels building in his chest, but he pushed it down and nodded. They could get back to that some other day.

Castiel bit his lip, a thoughtful expression coming over his face. Then, softly, as though he was scared that Dean would change his mind, he began to sing.

Dean didn’t know the language, but he closed his eyes and let Castiel’s voice wash over him, soothing him and calming his mind.

_“Lo egin nire semea eta bakea zuregana,_

_Gau osoan zehar_

_Aingeru zaindariak Jainkoak bidaliko dizkizu,_

_Gau osoan zehar_

_Ordu lausoak arrastaka ari dira,_

_Hill eta dale lohiketan lo egiten,_

_Maite ditut zaintzen,_

_Gau osoan zehar.”_

Dean felt his body slump as he listened, the tiredness of the past days returning. As his mind slowed and calmed, his eyes became heavier, and his muscles relaxed. His head fell to the side, landing gently on something firm and soft, and he gave into sleep.

\----------

Castiel stopped singing as Dean’s head fell onto his shoulder and his breathing became deep and even. The shock that someone had actually _asked_ him to sing was still lingering, as well as the emotions that revisiting his past had stirred up.

Now, as he looked down at the human using him as a pillow, he wasn't entirely sure what to do.

Slowly, he went to move Dean’s head to rest against the pillow, so he could lie down properly, but as soon as he shifted, the hunter’s face screwed up and he clung to the angel. 

“Cas. Stay.” He whined sleepily, pressing his body further into Castiel.

The angel froze, staring at Dean with wide eyes. _Did he just…?_

Hesitantly, he shifted away again, only to meet the same resistance, and Dean’s sleepy voice begging him to stay with him.

A battle raged inside Castiel. On one hand, he knew that if Dean was conscious and in control, he never would have asked this, asked for Castiel to stay with him. In fact, he’d told the angel multiple times that waking up to find him there was creepy. But on the other hand, this was Dean, begging for him to stay. This was the man he loved asking for him to stay with him. 

And Castiel could never deny Dean anything.

So he stayed. He lay down on the bed next to Dean, and let the man curl into him. He stayed by Dean’s side all night

\----------

The first thing that Dean noted when he woke up was the warmth. He was surrounded on all sides by warmth and comfort, something that didn’t often happen with their lifestyle. He was used to cheap motel beds and sometimes even waking up inside the Impala, which - although he loved his baby - wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to sleep.

The second thing he noted was the scent. The smell of pine and woodsmoke lingered on the sheets around him, and he breathed it in deeply, turning his face to nuzzle into his pillow. That was another thing he wasn’t exactly used to - cheap motel rooms genuinely didn’t smell very nice. 

The third thing he realized was that his pillow was moving. 

Instantly, his instincts kicked in. No one, and he meant _no one_ , other than maybe Sam or Bobby, should have been able to approach him in his sleep without him realizing. 

Slowing his breathing, faking sleep, he focused on his other senses. He was obviously still in a bed, the sheets confirmed that much, and he wasn’t restrained in any way. Whoever was next to him hadn’t changed his clothes, or disarmed him either. Which meant either they weren’t afraid of him, they couldn’t be hurt by anything he had on him, or they were stupid. They were roughly the same height as him, male, had shaved recently by the feel of the stubble brushing against his forehead, they were wearing some sort of coat, a shirt and a tie judging by what he could feel, they weren’t scared judging by the steady pulse and they were the source of the scent.

And they had somehow got close enough to him in his sleep that he was cuddling them.

“Are you satisfied that I’m not an enemy yet?”

Dean let out a sigh and opened his eyes. Sure enough, Castiel was the one lying next to him, looking down at him with a raised eyebrow. His right arm was wrapped around Dean’s waist, the hunter had an arm and a leg draped over him, and Dean’s head was resting in the space between the angel’s shoulder and neck.

“Depends.” Dean replied, closing his eyes again. He was warm and comfortable, and there was no chance that Sam hadn’t seen, so there was no point trying to hide the position they were in. “How many pictures has Sam taken?”

“By the amount of flashes, probably about four or five.” Castiel replied, and Dean groaned, turning his face to hide in the angel’s shoulder. 

“And he’s no doubt already sent them to at least Bobby, so deleting them won’t do anything.” His muffled voice bemoaned his fate. 

Castiel let out a quiet laugh at the hunter’s dramatics. “Come on, surely it’s not that bad?”

Dean raised his head to meet Castiel’s eyes. “You have met my brother and Bobby, right?” He asked in disbelief. “They’re going to be teasing us non-stop for months!” 

“In which case,” Castiel started, a smirk starting to form on his lips. “I might leave now, stay away for a few weeks, until it all dies down…” He started to move, as though he was about to fly away.

Dean yanked him back down with a growl. “Oh no you don’t. You’re not leaving me here to deal with it alone!”

Whatever Castiel was going to say next was lost as they took in the position the two of them were now in. Dean’s pull had unbalanced the angel, causing him to fall almost directly on top of the hunter, and they were now pressed flush together from the waist down, Castiel supporting his upper body on one elbow. 

The two of them froze in that position, staring at the other with wide eyes. Castiel nervously wet his lips, causing Dean’s eyes to flick down to them for a moment before meeting his eyes again.

Slowly, the two of them started leaning towards the other, when a groan from the other bed had them shooting apart as fast as possible. Unfortunately, they’d forgotten where they were, and the sudden movement caused the sheets to tangle around Castiel’s legs. He lost balance and tumbled onto the floor, landing in a mess of sheets and blankets. Dean, shooting backwards, banged his head on the wall and then fell to one side, knocking the lamp and books that had been on the side table everywhere. 

The sudden noises woke Sam up instantly, and he shot up with a gun in his hands, only to blink at the two men groaning and rubbing their heads. 

“Dean? Cas? Why’re you on the floor?”

Dean groaned and thumped his head against the mattress he was half-lying on. 

Castiel closed his eyes and cursed in Enochian.

\-------------

**AN: Poor Dean and Cas.....So close and yet no luck. Sam really does have the worst timing.**

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this, and that you’re staying safe during this lockdown. And to all Key Workers out there, thank you so much, the work you do is amazing, and we can’t thank you enough. You guys are awesome.**

**The songs used are:**

  * **Can’t Help Falling In Love With You - By Elvis Presley**
  * **All Through The Night - By Edward Jones, translated into Basque through Google Translate**



**Stay strong, stay safe, and I hope you enjoyed,** **  
****Demonic_Angel_511**


End file.
